CONCRETER Dane Sisic says you can tell the difference on the work site between tradies who look after themselves and those who tend to let their health slide. Those who exercise and eat well were fresher, more efficient and far less injury prone.
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Mr Sisic was concerned a lack of awareness and poorer lifestyle decisions would drastically reduce most tradies’ working lives and, more immediately, take a toll on their workmates who had to shoulder the load for injured colleagues.
Tradies were among the highest serious injury and disease compensation claimants in the nation, according to Safe Work Australia. Australian Physiotherapy Association is leading the call for tradies to keep a check on their safety and wellbeing in August for Tradies National Health Month.
Mr Sisic, a former Ballarat Miners basketballer, said elite sport helped ensure he set good habits, particularly in proactive and preventative injury measures, like stretching. He has always sought physiotherapy treatment for niggles before niggles turned to major problems.
“I’ve always been conscious of what I ate and I can try to make suggestions to the guys at work but most don’t want to know,” Mr Sisic said. "There’s not a lot of awareness but if that’s happening with our workers, you look at all the new estates going up across town and realise this is a big issue.”
Mr Sisic said most of his workers rarely ate breakfast, let alone a healthy breakfast, which he felt put them behind from the outset. If they did not pack lunch, it was usually the nearest fast food option. Long, physically demanding days with early starts would take their toll sooner. By the time work finished, many were too exhausted to do anything else.
Physiotherapist Brad Jones said light exercise, low level core stability work and stretching could make a big difference. Tradies he treats at MC Physio tended to present with lower back injuries, stiff joints or disc bulging.
“We can try and give specific exercises to prevent injury but most tradies will just come back for treatment when they’re injured,” Mr Jones said. “We really need top try and change that passive, reactive attitude to active for treatment.”
Mr Sisic said all tradies were under pressure to get work done, or get back to work sooner from injury, but it was important to make time to be in the to be in the best possible shape for work.
